Social Interaction Model
Table of contents for Models of online ministry
Here is another form of ministry that I’ve come across. The idea is essentially that Christians make friends outside of church. This friendship then gives opportunities for others to see the difference that Jesus is making in a persons life. This should lead to opportunities to reach out to them with the Christian message.
There are several good points about this idea:
Christians should be interacting with people outside the church anyway.
Most people who become Christians do so because of a friend and so the more friends we have the better chance this method has.
It gives Christians a way of reaching out to others that is pretty comfortable for most people.
The disadvantages are:
People often give friends who are different from themselves a kind of honorary membership to their social circles. This means that they appreciate someone might be a Christian but they don’t let this knowledge get in the way of a friendship. They still see all other Christians as weirdos.
People still need to understand that you are a Christian. It is surprising how many people are often unaware that friends are committed Christians.
Sadly too often Christians simply conform to fit in which means that they do not have a difference for anyone to notice. If we fit in too well then we have a negative effect on peoples concepts of what Christianity is.
How does this fit in with online ministry?
We have seen a rise in social networking over the last decade or so. This has become a major player in how people interact on the Internet. It is certainly true that this is a great way of keeping in touch with existing friends.
However there is difficulty in using the Internet to form new relationships. Somehow electronic relationships just aren’t the same as personal ones.
The Internet will never replace personal relationships but it can serve as a way to bring like minded people together.
Most Christians (with Internet access) could find groups to which they could belong on the Internet. Then it is possible using links to other sites etc to encourage people to think about faith.
This might prove to be a positive way of promoting the Christian faith.
However it should be noted that putting social networking apparatus on a Christian website is unlikely to have the desired results. Christians will need to make use of sites that people already use to reach out.
